Our Influence on the Law in New York

The New York City personal injury attorneys at the Law Office of Michael H. Joseph, PLLC, have had an undeniable effect on the progress of the law. Through effective advocacy and an unflinching pursuit of social justice our attorneys have won cases both at the trial level and in the Appellate Courts that have helped shape legal precedent in the areas of personal injury law, civil rights and commercial litigation. Our attorneys have fought for clients in both the New York State Courts and at the federal level. We have argued cases in the New York Appellate Departments in the First, Second and Third Departments, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

An appeal is a time intensive and often expensive process, which discourages many Plaintiff’s attorneys from challenging adverse rulings, despite being legally erroneous. For example many law firms lack the ability to prepare an appellate record in house and have to send out the papers to an appellate printer, which often costs thousands of dollars. Our law offices in Manhattan and New York, both have the capacity to produce appellate records and appellate briefs in house, thereby avoiding the burdens involved in hiring an appellate printing service. This allows our personal injury and commercial attorneys to effectively challenge adverse rulings and the cost involved is not a deterrent to doing the right thing and fighting for a just result for our client. Our New York personal injury and commercial litigation attorneys believe that when a Plaintiff’s lawyer is prohibited by cost from pursuing adverse rulings that sets a negative precedent for all other Plaintiffs, since an unchallenged ruling has the potential to develop into bad law. That is why our attorneys are proud to hold the line and challenge bad decisions because we represent not only our clients, but all people who have suffered injuries and are fighting for justice.

Through aggressive and effective advocacy, our attorneys have made positive and progressive steps in legal precedent and have obtained favorable development in the law effecting construction workers, window washers and industrial workers who have sustained personal injuries in the course of their employment by expanding the scope of New York’s Labor Law. Our attorneys have also obtained favorable precedents for those injured in car and truck accidents through cases which defined the scope of New York’s vehicle and traffic law and New York’s serious injury law. We have also won justice for victims of police misconduct, including obtaining an expansive view of the Civil Rights law including 42 U.S.C. 1983, especially in the area of malicious prosecution. Our attorneys have also obtained good results in the area of litigation in general and fairness for litigants by challenging procedural issues including jury misconduct, discovery and many other procedural issues. For example in the area of discovery our New York City attorneys have won decisions which expanded the discovery that Plaintiffs are entitled to and we have aggressively fought attempts by defendants to avoid disclosing relevant information.

Our lawyers are committed to protecting the rights of those who have sustained personal injuries in accidents and will continue to advocated in all available forums to protect their rights and to make sure the law continues to develop in a manner that is favorable to accident victims.